MNN Galleries

8 eye-catching shipping container homes

A new kind of living

Not too long ago, the notion of living in an 8- by 20-foot box was enough to stop a potential homebuyer in his tracks … and send him running for the exits. The rise of innovative green architecture has created in increasingly in-vogue practice: rejiggering, stacking and linking rugged and versatile freight shipping containers and transforming them into fully inhabitable homes.

An excellent method of reusing — there are more than 300 million shipping containers sitting empty at ports around the world — shipping containers are used to build full- and part-time single-family homes and much more. In their most basic form, recycled shipping containers offer a quick and inexpensive solution to emergency housing needs and when stacked sky-high, they make for intriguing dormitory complexes.

A new kind of living

Not too long ago, the notion of living in an 8- by 20-foot box was enough to stop a potential homebuyer in his tracks … and send him running for the exits. The rise of innovative green architecture has created in increasingly in-vogue practice: rejiggering, stacking and linking rugged and versatile freight shipping containers and transforming them into fully inhabitable homes.

An excellent method of reusing — there are more than 300 million shipping containers sitting empty at ports around the world — shipping containers are used to build full- and part-time single-family homes and much more. In their most basic form, recycled shipping containers offer a quick and inexpensive solution to emergency housing needs and when stacked sky-high, they make for intriguing dormitory complexes.